


Empty Chairs at Empty Tables

by Penning_the_stars



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Heartbreak, M/M, Missing Persons, Other, Regret, Tears, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author is Crying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-07-08 01:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19861597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penning_the_stars/pseuds/Penning_the_stars
Summary: After Infinity War. No one can move on. It . . . just couldn't . . . have happened . . . But it did. And they regret. And mourn. And grieve.All to the tragic lyrics of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables from Les Miserables.(This is a stand alone, and does not tie in at all to Infinity, Eternity, and Inevitability.)





	Empty Chairs at Empty Tables

They sit in silence; in the silence of their failure.

_There's a grief that can't be spoken._

Tony hasn't said a word about what had happened on Titan, but everyone knew. His long-term boyfriend, of over twenty years, had died in front of his eyes. His son had died in his arms, pleading not to go.

_There's a pain goes on and on._

Thor just sits there, on the bench. He had said very little about what had happened at Asgard; but they had picked up on what had. His father had died in front of him. His long-lost sister had appeared and taken his eye. He had to destroy his home world and kill his sister. His brother was killed in front of him. 

_Empty chairs at empty tables._

Their rooms are still keep in the compound; no one has the heart or will to clean them out. Empty beds in empty rooms. Empty hearts in empty bodies. Empty people in empty rooms.

_Now my friends are dead and gone._

It seems like everyone they love is gone. Over half of their friends are dead. Or gone. Whatever it meant to be dusted, when Thanos snapped. They're all gone.

_Here they talked of revolution._

They had planned Thanos's downfall here. They had spoken of his defeat, and saving the world again. 

_Here it was they lit the flame._

Comand central. Ultron, Loki, their civil war. They had weathered it all together, more or less. They had survived it all, always returning here afterwards. Home.

_Here they sang about 'tomorrow'._

Not too long ago, they had talked of retiring part-time. Stepping back, raising families, living normal lives. They had spoken of the future, bright and beautiful, just one thought away.

_And tomorrow never came._

But the future never came. They weren't able to step back, they weren't able to raise families, they never lived normal lives. The future wasn't bright or beautiful, it's dark and terrible, empty without the people they had lost.

_From the table in the corner._

There was a chair, in the corner of the room. It's empty, but the whole room gravitates towards it. It had been Steve's chair, but then civil war had happened, and it had become Tony's. But now . . . Now both men simply stare at the chair, both too weighed down with grief to even think of getting up, let alone lead.

_They could see a world reborn._

The room has an awe-inspiring view of the sunrise, but the shades are drawn now. Back, before the Snap . . . The team had filtered into the room every morning, to quietly watch the sun rise up and bathe the world in gold and orange colors. But now . . .

_And they rose with voices ringing._

They had started their days there, having coffee or tea with each other before going through tasks for the day. Vision would stand quietly by the window, Wanda next to him. Sam and Rhodey would make coffee for everyone. T'Challa would stand by the monitor. Hill would stand next to T'Challa, receiving and monitoring crime throughout the world. Fury would sit at the head of the table, watching everyone go about their day. 

_And I can hear them now!_

Sometimes they hear those who had died voices, echoing in their memories. Bucky laughing. T'Challa ordering Clint to be serious. Vision talking quietly with Tony. Wanda asking people what something meant. Fury and Hill discussing their next step. Shuri's vines and gen z humor. Peter's rambling that always brought a smile to Tony's face. Stephen's snarking. Quill's stupidity showing when he opens his mouth. Loki's dead-pan answers. Groot's sass. Drax's strange sayings to normal idioms. Gamora's no-nonsense. Mantis's miss-sayings. Heimdall's convenient ' _I_ cannot, but you can so I'll leave my sword in for you'.

_The very words that they had sung._

But it's all in their heads. Those words the ones they lost used to say will never be said again by them. They will never be said the same, by the same, for the same. 

_Became their last communion._

Now those words will be the only words they will ever say again. Their last words, heard by strangers and the ones they loved the most, forever the last. 

_On the lonely barricade at dawn._

On Titan, those last words by Mantis, Drax, Peter Quill, Stephen Strange, and Peter Quill. In Wakanda, Vision, Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, T'Challa, Groot, and Shuri. In New York, Maria Hill and Nick Fury. In San Francisco, Hope van Dyne, Janet can Dyne, and Hank Pym.

_Oh my friends, my friends forgive me._

Forgive them, because they could not save the dusted. They could not stop Thanos, and lost everything because of that. They couldn't beat him in time. He became too powerful. Too powerful.

_That I live and you are gone._

They can't accept it. They can't accept their deaths. They can't move on, they refuse to move on. They can't be dead, they can't just be gone . . .

_There's a grief that can't be spoken._

Nat can't talk about it. But, they were- are her family. And they died. Turned to dust, just like those nightmares you assume could never happen. But it did. And it haunts her.

_There's a pain goes on and on._

Steve hadn't said anything about it, but it was obvious. He and Bucky were in love. Steve had followed him into the army, only for Bucky to be taken by Red Skull. Steve got him back, but then he fell off the train. Then he found Bucky and lost him after the helicarrier fell. Then he found him and fought a war over him. But, for Bucky's sake, Steve gave him up so he could get therapy. They had finally gotten back together, but then he dusted in front of Steve. It just went on and on . . .

_Phantom faces at the window._

Ghost images of the ones they lost, reflected in glass. Ghosts giving them false hope, only for it to snatched away. 

_Phantom shadows on the floor._

Shadows they think they catch, lifting their heads to stare into thin air, where they thought their loved ones are but are never there.

_Empty chairs at empty tables._

Empty rooms at empty buildings. Empty beds in empty rooms. Empty hearts in empty bodies. Empty people in empty places.

_Where my friends will meet no more._

Where they will never again assemble. Where they will never again meet. Where they will never be given the chance to apologise. Where they will never see those who dusted again. 

_Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me._

People look to them, begging for help, for hope. But they can not give it, for no one can ask for something no one has. And they don't have any scrap of help, of hope, because it was all taken with a Snap.

_What your sacrifice was for._

The blood, the pain, the torture they went through, and what for? Half the universe died, turned to dust. What was all the abuse, depression, PTSD, years missed, mental agony, stress, loss, and pain for if all that happened is more?

_Empty chairs at empty tables._

Empty chairs, empty beds, empty rooms, empty buildings, empty hearts, empty bodies. Empty people, empty towns, empty cities, empty countries, empty worlds. 

_Where my friends will sing no more._

Where people will never enjoy joy. Where people will never know lasting happiness. Where the present doesn't matter, and all anyone wants is the past. Where depression will rule everyone, and not just half. Half . . . Half


End file.
